Ricky Ponting demands Ashes investigation after ball change helped England fight back against Australia at the Oval: ‘Huge blunder’

Ricky Ponting has overturned England’s choice of ball handed to the Oval on the morning of Day 5, with the Australian captain calling for an inquiry into the referee.

Referees Joel Wilson and Kumar Dharmasena agreed to switch the ball after the first delivery of the 37th on Monday in South London, believing it had gone out of shape after Mark Wood hit Usman Khawaja on the helmet with a bouncer.

However, the replacement ball turned out to be considerably harder and newer than the one England had previously used, and the hosts profited dramatically.

Ben Stokes’ side picked up the wickets of Khawaja, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne in quick succession, giving them a chance to fight back on the final day of the series.

An irate Ponting took to the airwaves on Sky Sports to suggest that the referees had either been ‘blasé’ in their approach to the ball change, or failed to get a suitable substitution from fourth referee David Millns.

Ricky Ponting has demanded an investigation into a referee’s decision

England benefited from a substitution on the morning of the final day of the Ashes

“The biggest concern I have is the big difference in the condition of the ball that was chosen to replace the ball (which had gone out of shape),” Ponting said.

“There’s no way you can look at those two balls and say they’re similar.

“At the end of the day, when you’re going to switch the ball, you want to make sure you do it right, so (you make it) as close as possible to whoever you’re switching it from. .

“If you look in that box now, there weren’t many older age balls in it. There were some older ones that got picked up, the umpires watched and threw them back.

“I just can’t fathom how two international umpires who have done that many times before can get it so wrong.

“That’s a huge moment in this match, possibly a huge moment in the test match, and something that I think should actually be explored: whether there was the correct condition of the balls in the penalty area, or whether the referees just, blasé , have chosen one of them that they think is good to use.’

The former Australia captain says the decision should be scrutinized by officials

Ponting went on to double down on his position and called for an investigation into the decision.

“The conditions were perfect for bowling this morning, let’s just say that,” he added. “This morning the conditions were better for bowling. But what I saw last night, that ball there, I’ll raise my hand and say I have absolutely no doubt that that ball wouldn’t have done nearly as much as what it did this morning.

“Double the amount of movement this morning from yesterday afternoon, seam movement and swing. I think it’s a huge blunder that needs to be investigated.’